He Who Has Ears…

A Microsoft researcher recently suggested that many people today suffer from what she described as “continuous partial attention.” We are working on our laptop when someone comes to speak to us and, at precisely that moment, our cell phone rings. We are then engaged in a series of conversations, but only partially concentrating on each of them. In such a world, attentive listening is getting more and more difficult. Yet God is a speaking God, and he calls for a listening people. Psalm 19 introduces us to the ways in which–for those who have ears to hear–his voice can be heard.

To begin with, the powerful elements of the universe sing the praises of their Creator (1-6), the beauty of their music reaching the ends of the earth. We can hear that voice every day in some aspect of the good creation, provoking our response of gratitude and praise. The world around us, despite the ravages of human mismanagement, is still the theater of his glory (Rom. 1:20). Yet more articulate, God’s voice is heard in his law, bringing refreshment, wisdom, joy and warning (7-11). Like other song-writers (see Psa. 119 and Psa. 1), he describes how that word is of supreme worth, not merely providing information, but truly imparting life itself. 

This encounter with the universal praise of the created world and the blessings of the law brings us into the presence of God himself (12-14). No wonder it provokes our awareness of sin, our need of cleansing, and our longing to worship him as we should. The voice that spoke in creation and in God’s Law is the Word which, in Jesus Christ, can truly revive us, cleanse us, and orientate our lives to joyful praise. So the song ends by demonstrating that God’s voice provokes us to use our own voice in humble confession and in joyful worship.

Turn this psalm into a prayer of response, confession and praise, using the words of vs. 12-14 as a template.